Lamp socket



Jan. 2 1968 D. L. DELANO 3,362,007

LAMP SOCKET Filed 001:. '7, 1966 INVENTOR.

if nay/5.04s.

United States Patent 3,362,007 LAMP SOCKET Don L. Delano, Mount Clemens, Mich., assignor to Republic Industrial Corp., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 585,040 Claims. (Cl. 339-127) This invention relates to sockets for lamp bulbs and particularly to a twist-in type socket which accurately orients the J-slots within the receiving aperture.

The socket of the present invention is of the low voltage tylpe which is employed in automotive vehicles and the li e.

In the present arrangement a washer has two pairs of spring fingers diametrically disposed with a pair of spring locking fingers substantially diametrically disposed and located therebetween. One of the spring locking fingers has a notch therein which moves over a lip provided inwardly of the receiving aperture in which the socket is mounted. The opposite spring locking finger has a lanced section bent outwardly thereof for extending over the surface adjacent to the receiving aperture. All of the spring fingers are deflected inwardly when moved within the aperture and support the socket. The socket is locked within the aperture when rotated therein to have the notch in the locking finger receive the lip of the aperture. The spaces between the six projecting fingers are substantially equal except for the one between the notched locking finger and the adjacent spring finger. The space is sufiiciently wide to receive the lip which is wider than the spaces between the other projecting finger. As a result, the J-slots within the body of the socket are accurately oriented within the aperture.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to provide a socket of simplified construction which orients the J-slot within the standard socket aperture employed in automotive vehicles; to provide a tubular base with an extending flange which is reversely bent over the extending sections of a spring washer from which four spring fingers and two locking fingers extend; to have the fingers spaced an equal distance apart except for the notched locking finger which is spaced a distance sufiicient to receive the lip and extend thereover when the socket is rotated after the spring fingers have been inserted in the aperture; to provide a terminal block within the tubular element which is oriented therein by a projecting nib which extends within a longitudinal recess in the wall of the tubular element, and in general, to provide a socket which is simple in construction, positive in operation and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a socket locked within a receiving aperture of a panel;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a reduced sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken on the line 33 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a broken sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1, taken on the line 44 thereof, and

FIG. 5 is a broken view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 4 as viewed from the point 5 thereof.

It will be noted in FIG. 3 that a supporting panel 11 has a cylindrical aperture 12 into which a lip 13 extends. The socket has a tubular body 14 with a flange 15 at one end, the outer edge of which is reversely bent at 16. The opposite end of the tubular body has an outward bulge 17 terminating in an annular axially extending flange 18. A washer-like element 19 is made from thin spring 3,362,007 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 material which is stamped and formed to have four spring fingers 21 which are substantially diametrically disposed and a pair of locking fingers 22 and 23. Fingers 21, 22 and 23 are lanced out of the outer periphery of the washer element 19 having cutout portions 24 which leaves five sections 25 of equal width and a wide section 26 of substantially greater width. The fingers 21, 22 and 23 extend upwardly and are bent inwardly at the upper end so as to readily enter the aperture 12. All of the fingers are equally spaced except for the finger 22 adjacent to the wide section 26 which spaces the finger 22 from the finger 21 adjacent to the section 26 such a distance as to receive the lip 13 of the aperture 12 to thereby orient the socket within the aperture. Each of the fingers 21 has a central section 27 lanced therefrom and bent outwardly to be in a position to engage the edge of the aperture 12 and retain the socket within the aperture when all of the four fingers 21 have been received thereby.

The finger 22 has a notch 29 therein which receives the lip 13 when the socket is rotated after the fingers are fully inserted within the aperture 12. The finger 23 on the opposite side of the washer element 19 has an L-shaped section 31 lanced therefrom which is twisted outwardly to have its end in position to extend over the panel 11. In this manner the fingers 22 and 23 lock the socket within the aperture 12 after the spring fingers 21 provide spring holding pressure on the edge of the aperture. A spring holding force will be obtained for various aperture diameters which may vary from a maximum diameter of 1.127 inches to a minimum diameter of 1.113 inches. These are the maximum and minimum diameters usually found for the aperture 12 in the panel 11. The fingers 21 provide a double spring effect, the first by the fingers themselves and the second outwardly deflected by the sections 27, one or both of which are effective even though the diameters of the aperture 12 varies.

The ends of the sections 25 and 26 are locked to the flange 15 of the tubular body when the outer edge is reversely bent at 16 thereover t0 fix the element 19 to the flange 15. Diametrically disposed J-slots 33 are provided in the wall of the tubular body 14. A terminal block 35 has a projecting lug 36 on the peripheral edge which extends in a groove 37 provided in the wall of the tubular body 14. The lug 36 orients the terminal block 35 relative to the ]-slots 33 so that the terminals 38 carried by the block will contact the mating terminals on a base of a lamp bulb. The terminals 38 are connected by conductors 39 of a lead-in conductor 41 which is sealed along with the end of the tube 14 by a conical sealing sleeve 42 of conventional form.

When the socket is to be installed, all six fingers 21, 22 and 23 are placed within the aperture 12 and the socket is pushed inwardly to have the fingers pass through the aperture 12 and engage the outer surface of the supporting panel 11. The finger 23 will be deflected to have the section 31 passover the edge of the aperture 12 and snap back over the panel 11, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The socket is then turned counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 1 to have the notch 29 pass over the lip 13 and lock the socket to the panel 11. To remove the socket, it will be rotated clockwise until the lip is free of the notch 29.

Thereafter, the socket is withdrawn from the aperture by moving the back end in a manner to pull the finger 22 completely from the panel, pivoting around the lanced portion 31 in finger 23, the lanced section 31 remaining locked. The socket is then moved laterally within the aperture until the lanced member 31 disengages from the panel. The socket is then pulled straight out of the aperture.

What is claimed is:

1. In a socket comprising a tubular body for acceptance adjacent a complementary aperture having a radially inwardly extending lip, a washer-like element. having spring fingers lanced therefrom and formed outwardly thereof in position with one of said fingers formed to provide a positive holding force with a radial edge face of the lip on the aperture, and means for securing the washer-like element to the tubular body, the space between all of the fingers except one being less than the width of the lip which thereby orients the socket within the aperture.

2. In a socket as recited in claim 1, wherein a plurality of the fingers have spring engagement with an axial edge face of the aperture.

3. In a socket as recited in claim 2, wherein the spring fingers have sections extended outwardly therefrom.

which are engageable with the axially outer edge of the aperture.

4. In a socket as recited in claim 1, wherein one of the spring fingers has a notch which provides said locking engagement with the lip in the aperture when the socket is rotated therein.

4 5. A socket as recited in claim 4, wherein another of the fingers diametrically related to said one finger has an outwardly directed section located substantially in the plane of said notch for extending over the surface of the member containing said aperture.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,117,761 5/1938. Douglas 339127 X 2,248,399 7/1941 Watts 339-128 2,616,944 11/1952 Bedford 339--128 2,664,548 12/1953 Hall 339-128 X 2,664,550 12/1953 Howard 339-128 3,110,539 11/1963 Harris 339-128 X OTHER REFERENCES IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Quick Mounting Light Receptacle, W. L. Larrabee, vol. 1, No. 5, February 1959, p. 9.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A SOCKET COMPRISING A TUBULAR BODY FOR ACCEPTANCE ADJACENT A COMPLEMENTARY APERTURE HAVING A RADIALLY INWARDLY EXTENDING LIP, A WASHER-LIKE ELEMENT HAVING SPRING FINGERS LANCED THEREFROM AND FORMED OUTWARDLY THEREOF IN POSITION WITH ONE OF SAID FINGERS FORMED TO PROVIDE A POSITIVE HOLDING FORCE WITH A RADIAL EDGE FACE OF THE LIP ON THE APERTURE, AND MEANS FOR SECURING THE WASHER-LIKE ELEMENT TO THE TUBULAR BODY, THE SPACE BETWEEN ALL OF THE FINGERS EXCEPT ONE BEING LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF THE LIP WHICH THEREBY ORIENTS THE SOCKET WITHIN THE APERTURE. 